Where is your career going?

Have you questioned lately where your career is going? The trend of staying with the same organisation for life is not as prominent a strategy as it was previously. As a result, people are questioning their careers more regularly, a good practice. It helps you with self-analysis to understand where you are short, or what you need to accomplish next.

Many individuals who want a career change argue that they got into their present roles by chance and it’s not really something they wanted to pursue long term, circumstances changed that. Yet still, it has not driven you to transition your career. You prevent your own advancement and working in the career you desire. It is often said there is a gap between the job the individual obtains and what they aspire for. You find yourself in a role that has become mundane. The career choices available to you within the field are not alluring enough and appear limiting, not providing the motivation that you want.

It is inevitable that you question what your next move is. There are some probing questions you need to ask yourself. What is your career plan for the next five years? What do I want to be doing? What type of people do I want to work with? If you answer, the same thing I am doing now, you may need to ask yourself why.

Constructing a career path is not as difficult as one may believe. The benefits can outweigh any pre conceived negative ideas or thoughts that exist. Whatever your goal is, there is an opportunity to break into the career you decide upon.

At these initial stages, your passion will be enough to drive you through; it will in fact last for as long as you need it. If it’s really what you’ve wanted to do all your life, opportunities will eventually reveal themselves. Do not be afraid to fail, this is valuable knowledge for the learning experience. Live your career dream, not a regret.

One Response to Where is your career going?

The first advice I would offer is this: be wary of following the careers advice your college gives you. In journalism school, for example, students are routinely instructed that, though they may wish to write about development issues in Latin America, in order to achieve the necessary qualifications and experience they must first spend at least three years working for a local newspaper, before seeking work for a national newspaper, before attempting to find a niche which brings them somewhere near the field they want to enter. You are told to travel, in other words, in the opposite direction to the one you want to take. You want to go to Latin America? Then first you must go to Nuneaton. You want to write about the Zapatistas? Then first you must learn how to turn corporate press releases into “news”. You want to be free? Then first you must learn to be captive…